Manufacture of cellulosic films.



E. BRANDENBERGER. MANUFACTURE OF GELLULOSIG FILMS.

AIPLIOATIOH FILED JULY 23; 1909.

Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

2 8HEETS-8HEET 1.

: AW J.

E. BRANDENBERGER.

MANUFAGTURE 0F GELLULOSIO FILMS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1909.

1,002,634. Patented Sept. 5,1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

STAWENT I E n'nwm imanmimmnena, or THAON-LES-VOSGES, nuance;

- MANUFACTURE or GELLULOSIC FILMS.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed my 23, 1909. Serial No. 509,192.

To all it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ED\VIN, BRANDENQ facturecontinuously cellulosic film which,

as it is made, can be rolled up, the length of-the film in each roll being as great as desired. f 1

' After their manufacture cellulosic films must be dried before they can be utilized industrially. The said drying great diificulties in practice. If the cellulosic film is simply exposed to the action of the air, it shrinks and loses all its transparency, becomeswarped and absolutely useless for industrial purposes. If itis stretched at its edges while being dried it cracks and breaks, either during drying, or at the moment when it is detached. 1

This invention relates to a machine in which any lengths of film can be treated, the drying taking place in such conditions that the film does not shrink and on emerging from the machine has a remarkable transparency, remaining absolutely smooth at the same time.

In the machine according to this invention the cellulosic film is held during the drying operation at every point by means of parts which, without exercising a great and consequently injurious pressure on it are arranged so as simply to hold the film in contact with rigid surfaces, on both faces.

A machine according to this invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is an elevation, Fig. 2 a plan,

Fig. 3 a partial plan of the driving gear of the second or upper level, Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but on an enlarged scale and with parts omitted and broken away, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the rollers.

This machine has two floors or levels. The object is merely to avoid making the presents machine excessively long, but it'is obvious- Patented Sept. 5, 1911..

that-the machine according to this invention could be provided either with one, three or.

four floors etc: if it were considered necessary.

As will be seen in the drawings, the ma chine comprises a series of rollers a which, by means of a suitable gear (see plan in Fig. 2) consisting of driving belts and toothed wheels, are operated-so as to rotatein the directionof the arrows shown in Fig. 1, that is to say, in the direction required, as will be hereinafterdescribed, for the advance 'of the film in the machine;

The second floor of the; machine also comdriving gear is arranged so that the rollers.

b rotate in the direction shown'by the arrows (Fig; 1) that. is to say the direction required for theadvance of the film in the machine from the back forward.

A roller 0 arranged at the back of the machine, forms an intermediate support for the passage of the film from the lower floor to the upper.

The rollers 'aand. b are hollow and can be heated either by circulation of a hot fluid, or by the direct action of a flame, or in any other suitable manner. Above the rollers a, as well as above the rollers b, are arranged hollow rollers 03 which are quite free, that is to say, not driven in any way and rest simply by gravity on two consecutive rollers 79 or a, as shown in Fig. 5. These-rollers are of suitable light weight, and are held in the transverse direction of the machine, by means of flanges at the ends of the rollers a and b. It will be understood, moreover, that the rollers d which are constituted by simple tubes, could be held by flanges secured to the rollers a and b. The rollers d of the bottom floor, owing to their contact with the rollers a, will rotate in the direction the direction of rotation of the rollers d of the bottom floor. The air about the rollers should be raised to a temperature of the desired degree for bringing about a complete drying of the cellulosic film to be treated. This method of drying could bensed alone rollers (Z a and b d.

or in combination with the means provided for heatin rollers a and b.

The rolir containing the cellulosic film to be dried, is mounted in the machine at e, and the end of the said cellulosic film is secured by any suitable means to a fabric of a suitable length which, in its turn, is attached to a strap which follows in the machine the path shown by the chain dotted lines, that is to say, passing successively around the rollers d a, on the one hand, for the first floor, .and the rollers b d, on the other hand, for the second floor. The strap comes out at the front of the apparatus after the last roller 6.

The different driving rollers a I) having been started, the film is unwound from the attached, in order to travel in the machinealong the'path hereinbeforespecified, that is the path followed by the strap around the When the end of the film, after having traveled through the whole machine, arrives at the upper roller 6, the attendant detaches the fabric from the edge of the film and winds the latter on the winder f. The machine is then in complete operation. The damp cellulosic film is unwound from the roller 6 in order to be wound on the roller 7 after having traveled from the. front to the back through the first floor of the machine. and from the back to the front through the second floor, the said film being supported throughout its length by the rollers a d and b d during its passage through the machine, for the purpose of obtaining, as already stated, a transparent cellulosic film without creases or shrinkage. The apparatus described can also be used, as will be readily understood, for securing at the same time the film to any support, paper or fabric for instance. To that end, at the bottom of the machine at g, is arranged a roller on which is wound the band of paper. The latter, after having passed guide rollers g and received the necessary finish, or the glue required for fixing the film, arrives in contact with the latter between the rollers a and d. The band of paper follows the same path as the cellulosic lm. It adheres'to the latter, and finally a band of cellulosic film glued to a band of pa er, is stored on the roller f.

tretchin or regulating parts can be provided, as wlll be readily understood, for the pur ose of insuring uniform working of the mac ine.

The drying machine described, instead of being fed by rollers containing the film could receive it direct on its leaving the machine in which the said film was manufactured or otherwise handled.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. In a machine for drying cellulosic films, the combination of a series of lower driving rollers, mechanical means for rotating the same, and a series of free upper rollers located above and between and resting upon said driving rollers, said rollers of said upper and lower series forming between each other alternately a continuous drying surface for the film.

2. In a machine for drying cellulosic films, a series of lower drying rollers, mechanical means for rotating the same, a series of free upper rollers located above and between and resting upon said lower rollers, and means for preventing lateral movement of said upper rollers, said rollers of said upper and lower series forming between each other alternately a continuous drying surface for the film.

Dated this 29th day of June 1909.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWIN BRANDENBERGER.

Witnesses:

EMILE LEDRET,

H. C. Coxa. 

